A few weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys declined the fifth-year option of cornerback Kaiir Elam, a guy they traded for this offseason.
The team acquired Elam in a trade with the Bills. Buffalo will receive a 2025 fifth-round selection and a 2026 seventh-rounder, while sending a 2025 sixth-round choice to the Cowboys along with Elam.
Dallas would be on the hook for $12.7 million in 2026 if they did not decline.
With that said, if I was Elam, it would light a fire under my you know what.
The Bills made Elam a first-round pick in 2022, and he played only 29 of a possible 51 regular-season games, starting only 12.
The Problem
Elam was unable to beat out the competition in Buffalo, with Christian Benford, Rasul Douglas and Dane Jackson among those who saw more playing time.
Elam totaled 81 tackles, six passes defensed and two interceptions with the Bills.
With Trevon Diggs recovering from his bone graft surgery on his left knee, Elam is going to have to play a big role early this season. Jourdan Lewis is no longer with the team as he signed with the Jags.
That leaves guys like DaRon Bland, Elam, Caelen Carson and Shavon Revel Jr. who the Cowboys drafted this March, but a projected first round pick is recovering from a torn ACL himself, so he won’t be ready for the start of the year.
That gives Elam an opportunity to earn more playing time than he had in Buffalo when he was a healthy scratch for multiple games and played only 939 defensive snaps in his time there.
I was never fully on board with him when they traded for the guy, but he is going to have a perfect chance early in the season to step in and earn his snaps even when Diggs returns.
Matt Eberflus is going to have his hands full of this defense and what he brings to the table.
I think he is much better on that side of the ball than a head coach, but it stinks that the defense is learning something new for the third year in a row.
Elam is going to have to play an important role for at least the first few weeks of the season until Diggs can get back up to speed, and watching his film from the Bills, nothing really jumped off, so here is to hoping that he can find his grove and be motivated due to the Cowboys declining that 5th year.
Bet on yourself, kid.
